PITTSBURGH HYATT HOUSE v. COMMONWEALTH PENNSYLVANIA (11/23/81)

Appeal from the Order of the Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board in case of In Re: Claim of Solomon J. Kamara v. Pittsburgh Hyatt House, No. A-78502.

COUNSEL

Joseph F. Grochmal, Fried, Kane, Walters & Zuschlag, for petitioner.

Thomas P. Geer, for respondent, Solomon J. Kamara.

President Judge Crumlish, Jr. and Judges Rogers and Blatt, sitting as a panel of three. Opinion by Judge Rogers.

Author: Rogers

[ 62 Pa. Commw. Page 557]

The hotel Hyatt House here appeals from the order of the Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board granting benefits to the claimant, Solomon Kamara. We reverse.

The facts are undisputed. The claimant, who was employed as a steward by the Hyatt House, was injured while at work on October 21, 1978, when a tray fell on him from a cart he was pushing, hurting his left eye and breaking his glasses. Since the injury occurred at approximately 11:00 p.m., near the end of his 3:30 p.m. to midnight shift, the claimant's supervisor instructed him to stay at work until the end of the shift when he punched out on his time card. The

[ 62 Pa. Commw. Page 558]

supervisor then put the claimant in a taxicab and sent him for treatment to the Central Medical Pavilion which is a very short distance from the Hyatt House. The claimant was treated and released at about 1:25 a.m. Hospital personnel directed him to a nearby bus stop from which he could take a bus to his home. While waiting at the bus stop, the claimant was attacked by two men who took his money, beat him and injured him. The claimant made his way back to the Central Medical Pavilion where he was treated for his new injuries. The claimant returned to work on March 14, 1979. In the ensuing workmen's compensation proceedings the claimant was awarded benefits on account of his injuries at the hands of the assailants at the bus stop as well as for those suffered at the Hyatt House. The employer here challenges only the award for the former.

The terms 'injury' and 'personal injury,' as used in this act, shall be construed to mean an injury to an employe, regardless of his previous physical condition, arising in the course of his employment and related thereto, . . . . The term 'injury arising in the course of his employment,' as used in this article, shall not include an injury caused by an act of a third person intended to injure the employe because of reasons personal to him, and not directed against him as an employe or because of his employment; but shall include all other injuries sustained while the employe is actually engaged in the furtherance of the business or affairs of the employer, whether upon the employer's premises or elsewhere, and shall include all injuries caused by the condition of the premises or by the operation

[ 62 Pa. Commw. Page 559]

of the employer's business or affairs thereon, sustained by the employe, who, though not so engaged, is injured upon the premises occupied by or under the control of the employer, or upon which the employer's business or affairs are being carried on, the ...

Our website includes the first part of the main text of the court's opinion.
To read the entire case, you must purchase the decision for download. With purchase,
you also receive any available docket numbers, case citations or footnotes, dissents
and concurrences that accompany the decision.
Docket numbers and/or citations allow you to research a case further or to use a case in a
legal proceeding. Footnotes (if any) include details of the court's decision. If the document contains a simple affirmation or denial without discussion,
there may not be additional text.

Buy This Entire Record For
$7.95

Download the entire decision to receive the complete text, official citation,
docket number, dissents and concurrences, and footnotes for this case.